Royals place Soria on DL, recall Hochevar

Battling a sore shoulder most of the season, the Kansas City Royals are not taking any chances and have decided to place the team’s closer on the disabled list. Taking Joakim Soria’s spot on the roster will be starter pitcher Luke Hochevar.

Soria, who saved 42 of 45 games last year and was 7 of 7 this season in save opportunities has put up decent numbers despite struggling at times to close out games. After the Royals’ 4-3 loss on Sunday, Soria said he just needs some time to rest his shoulder.

I wonder how much his participation in the World Baseball Classic and lack or regular work (or as least throwing off his normal spring routine) may have led to his troubles.

I just wrote about Hochevar on Friday and mentioned it during my sports reports that it couldn’t be long before the Royals called him up from AAA Omaha. In six starts, he was 5-0 with a 0.90 ERA, clearly better than minor league competition. He’ll take Soria’s spot on the roster and bump Sidney Ponson to the bullpen.

In the meantime, manager Trey Hillman says it will be closer by committee, but Juan Cruz would have to be the favorite for that role. He’s 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 13 appearances this year.